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This supplement to Werewolf: The Forsaken is all about spirituality. Gifts, Rites, Spirits, Fetishes, Auspices, and Tribe based rituals are explored in depth here. There's a lot of flavor and any Werewolf Storyteller or Player can find something interesting to take away from here. While it does present a hodge podge of different information, the book is well organized by topic and all the topics logically relate to one another under the banner of spirituality.
The Physical Thing
Lore of the Forsaken is a hardcover 160 page book composed of high quality paper stock and Above Average art. This book resembles the Werewolf: The Forsaken core book in appearance. While there is a table of contents, and everything is logically organized, there is no index.
The Ideas
This book is an excellent general expansion to the material presented in Werewolf: The Forsaken. While all the topics are unified under the idea of spirituality, just about everything gets treatment here. If you're looking for a Player's Guide / Storyteller's Guide type of product then this book will serve you well.
It has a good mix of information useful to Storytellers and Players. Most Players will love the additional Gifts, Rites, and 50 Fetishes presented here. Storytellers, however, get those goodies and get to have a real field day with some of the society information presented here.
The big stuff that Storytellers will dig are detailed descriptions of Tribal initiation, Auspices, and information on Spirits including the big ones like Luna. The book is thick with interesting ideas, many of whom could be entire stories unto themselves.
The Storyteller who wants to run a Mortals or Ghost Wolves become Forsaken game will find this book to be a useful tool.
Under the Cover
The book begins with a piece of short fiction called The Tarot of Eight Packs. Eight Tarot ideas, such as The Fool, are presented in short fiction describing a scenario involving Werewolves. Pictures are provided to illustrate this fiction, but the fiction itself is sparse. On average each tale is less than half a page.
Each chapter begins with a full page illustration and a page of introductory fiction.
Introduction 4 pages.
A general discussion of animism (that mundane objects have a spirit aspect) is provided as well as a chapter by chapter breakdown of the book.
Chapter 1 Lords of the Hidden World (Totems) 44 pages.
This chapter begins with a discussion of totems. How to honor them, how long term relationships work with them, and how to roleplay totems and spirits generally. However, it also includes discussion of the very powerful spirits, or gods, found in the setting.
A detailed discussion about Luna, perhaps the most important spirit of all, is provided. Luna is presented as a many faced spirit, with difference faces corresponding to difference auspices. So we have Luna the Widow, Luna the Mother, etc.
The next part presents more information on the great wolf spirits that support each of the tribes. This includes Pure tribes as well as Forsaken tribes, and takes up the majority of the chapter. Information about Rites of Initiation to enter the tribe and gain the spirit's favor is presented. More background on the spirits, trials associated with them, how they relate to the forsaken and pure generally, and other information is provided.
The final part of this chapter discusses the Maeljin, basically evil spirit-demons. Evil with a capital E. Several individual spirits are presented, along with stats, and they could easily be used as major villains in any campaign. The creatures place Wounds in the Shadow, causing general spiritual corruption which is sure to upset any werewolf.
Chapter 2 Pull of the Moon (Auspices) 34 pages.
The chapter starts off with a brief discussion of auspice generally but quickly moves into extensive analysis of each auspice.
Each entry begins with a section on Pack Dynamics, explaining the typical role of that auspice within a pack. Then Tribal Dynamics, how the auspice is most often represented in a variety of tribes. Next the entry discusses The Hunt, how an auspice resolves conflict. The section concludes with a list of archetypes, such as Empath or Scientist.
The chapter concludes with new Gifts, one tree of five gifts for each auspice. These Gifts are interesting and afford some niche protection to the auspices. They reaffirm the existing roles of those groups but still manage to avoid being bland. On the whole I found them more interesting than any of the Gifts presented in the core book.
Chapter 3 Spirit Magic (Gifts and Rites) 32 pages.
If you're interested in roleplaying out the acquisition of Gifts and use of Rites then you'll love this chapter. It begins with a discussion of what gifts are, how to roleplay them, how characters go about learning gifts, a few short topics, and story hooks involving Gifts.
The Rites section is very similar, but also includes a discussion of the religious aspect of rights. If a Storyteller or Player was interested in doing so there is enough information here to place a strong Story-based focus on Rites and how they spiritual influence The People.
The chapter concludes with the introduction of more new Gifts and Rites. Like the previous Gifts, these new bits of crunch are interested and very evocative of the setting material. Were I to make a Werewolf character I could easily imagine taking any of these.
Chapter 4 The Living World (Loci and Fetishes) 32 pages.
This chapter begins with a discussion of Loci, the focal points for essence in the world. What they look like, how they might be used in campaigns, and other relevant information is provided. Acquisition of Loci and unusual properties of Loci (such as Living Loci) is also discussed.
This chapter wraps up with rules for Fetish creation and forty example Fetish. The rules seem simple enough, and the example Fetish are useful if basic. This is a very useful addition because Fetish are something that can be difficult to think up, and having a list of forty makes it a lot easier to understand what Fetish can do.
My Take
This is a great book and if you're looking for a general expansion to multiple aspects of the Werewolf: The Forsaken game then this is perfect. As a Storyteller and reader of RPG books I enjoyed the discussion of the wolf spirits and initiations into the tribes quite a bit. As a Player I loved the new Gifts, Fetish, and Rites. More than just additional powers, I feel that these abilities are perfect for the setting. They're interesting, and are the sort of abilities that I read about and then want to take on my characters.
The bad, for me, was just the general nature of some of the introductory writing and fiction. I know that's a pretty mild objection, but I really think this is a high quality RPG book for a rules supplement. I've objected to the price of some other nWoD books, as once ads and such are factored in there doesn't always seem to be that much material. This is not the case here. The book is packed with useful information. Lore of the Forsaken sets out to do exactly what it advertises and it succeeds at every turn.
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